Swing Wing Option on GibboGear Trike
Wings

GibboGear's new Swing Wing option is shown here on a
BabyButterfly trike wing mounted on the BB Trike imported from
Hungary. The braced "nose post" (sticking up above the
wing's nose) and extra pair of top wires support each leading
edge as the wings are swung open or closed.

Mark "Gibbo" Gibson's trike wing manufacturing company,
Butterfly Wings by GibboGear, is getting a reputation for innovations
in trike wing design and convenience. Identifying a "niche
market" for a stable trike wing with easy and predictable
handling characteristics, Gibson began making and marketing his
Butterfly trike wing. Gibson used his experience as a World Class
hang gliding competition pilot and hang glider designer to develop
the single-surface Butterfly trike wing,* designed for stability
in turbulence as well as easy and predictable handling during
takeoffs and landings. The Butterfly trike wing continues to be
the company's "bread and butter" product, according
to Gibson.

Located at the Lake Wales Municipal Airport (XØ7), Butterfly
Wings by GibboGear's product line has expanded rapidly since Gibson
started manufacturing trike wings in '99. The company's products
now include the single-surface Butterfly trike wing (in three
sizes - the original 21-meter Butterfly trike wing, the 17-meter
BabyButterfly** and the just-released 15-meter MiniButterfly),
the faster double-surface Firefly trike wing*** (a higher-performing
trike wing for more experienced trike pilots), and the BB Trike****(
a top-of-the-line fully loaded trike Gibson imports from Hungary).
And now, GibboGear has released their patent-pending Swing Wing
- an innovative option to speed the time-consuming chore of many
trikers who set up their trike wings (usually a 20- to 30-minute
task) each time before they fly and break them down again at day's
end.

"Have you ever dreamed of a trike wing that would just
swing open?" GibboGear asks. Well, Gibson did, and now he
has designed and developed one, available on all GibboGear trike
wings.

"Using a small braced 'nose post' [similar to a kingpost]
and an extra top wire, we are able to swing the wings' leading
edges open and closed like a gate with the aid of a 2-to-1 pulley
system attached to the pull-back [wing tensioning] cable,"
GibboGear explains. "The Swing Wing comes with a special
protective bag that covers the folded wings, allowing the still-attached
control bar and lower (flying) wires to stick out, so the entire
trike and wing can be trailered."

Word of the Swing Wing option already has spread among trikers
and potential trikers. The Swing Wing option is being ordered
on 30% of GibboGear's trike wings, Gibson claims.